Firehoses and Tiny Noses (BID 2)
by Burning-Stars98
Summary: He told himself he wouldn't be next, that it wouldn't happen at all, but now Heatwave finds himself in the same situation as Blades, and it's not at the best time... A troublesome sparkling, a new mission, and the usual mishaps all combine to make one very tired Rescue Bot. Parenting is not easy. (Takes place after Blessings in Disguise)
1. 1 A Trip Up the Mountain

The garage was quiet that morning, which was probably because Salvage and Blurr had gone to the Rescue Bot Training Center to make sure nothing needed repairs after a storm had hit the coast. A lot of storms had been hitting them, but that was typical of springtime weather. It had kept the Rescue Bots increasingly busy the past few weeks, which enabled Blades to get back to full functionality after what the island was calling the 'Egg Incident.'

Heatwave was sparring with his dummy, Chase and Boulder were both sitting and reading, and Blades was trying his hand at painting.

"How's the painting going, Blades...?" Boulder murmured.

"...I believe the humans would call it '_abstract_.'" Blades replied with a grimace. "You don't mind having a big helm, do you?"

Boulder chuckled, "Why paint _me_ when you have your own tiny model there?"

Heatwave smirked as he paused in his sparring, "Snowblast's not really in the mood to _pose_ right now..."

Blades looked away from the canvas and over to his son, who was slumped on top of the freezer, wings drooping on either side of it. "I'm sorry, Snowy...!" He cooed, "You look_ miserable_..."

Though he couldn't fly or walk yet, he could crawl and most definitely climb. He'd dig his little clawed fingers into surfaces and shimmy up like Mr. Pettypaws into a tree, which sometimes kept Blades' anxiety up, because he'd lose track of the tiny bot and then find him dangling from the rafters like a bat. He liked to hang from things, and Blades dealt with this by letting him wrap his wings around his neck and just dangle when the helicopter was at the Firehouse.

When the team left for a rescue, however, Snowblast would sit in the Command Center with Cody; a solution they'd decided on after the first time Blades left him and Snowblast wailed for hours in the nest because he was all alone.

But as the weather had slowly shifted from cold to warm, there'd been a change in the youngest member of the team as well. As it turned out, he didn't take heat very well, and most of them suspected that it had to do with the abuse his egg had taken before he hatched. Some mornings, Blades would wake up and find Snowblast curled up on the cool, concrete floor of the garage.

Boulder predicted his systems would eventually adjust to cope with it better as he got older. For now though, they just did what they could to keep his tiny frame from overheating.

Blades seemed to have downloaded 'Sparklish' at some point, because even though none of the others could seem to interpret Snowblast's squeaks and cries, Blades always knew what he needed. He'd sit and squeak back at the tiny bot for hours, a secret conversation that nobody else understood.

Blades walked over to the freezer and collected his son into his arms, stroking his crest and earning a soft squeak in response. "I know... It'll be chilly here again soon."

The loud blaring of the Rescue Alarm caught their attention, and Blades looked at the wall. "...All of us are up." He announced, "Da will be back later, okay?"

As the Burnses exited the elevator, Blades slipped Snowblast into it and it moved up the shaft.

"What's the emergency?" Heatwave inquired.

"Snow-melt has washed out some of the hiking trails and started a mudslide. We need to get those hikers out of there." Chief informed.

Heatwave nodded, "Rescue Bots, roll to the rescue!"

* * *

As the caravan of emergency vehicles made their way up the hillside, they could see the massive amount of melted snow from Mount Griffin had diverted the river somewhat, washing out some of the trails, as the Chief had said.

Heatwave had taken up the rear, and Kade wasn't sure how he felt about it. His partner's engine revved hard as he chugged up the slope, but it was clear to him that the rescue bot was struggling. His wheels spun as they tried to keep traction on the road that was now more mud than gravel, and Kade was certain he heard a clattering sound coming from somewhere under his partner's hood.

"Heatwave, you doing okay?"

"Fine...!" Heatwave hissed, "Don't...Distract me...!"

Kade gripped the wheel tightly as Heatwave finally found something to grip his tires into and jerked forward. The slope softened into a plateau, and they pulled up to the rest of the team.

"Good, you made it." Chief announced, "For a second it looked like you were having some difficulty."

"No problem..." Heatwave panted.

"Boulder, Graham, head uphill and see if you can divert this water back towards the river so it won't wash out the trails further. Blades, you and Dani see if you can spot those hikers from the air."

"Got it!" The pair of duos replied before heading off on their jobs.

"The rest of us will search down here on the ground. Stay together and radio us if you run into any problems."

Heatwave nodded, and then transformed into bot mode. Kade heard the clattering again, but he didn't comment as his partner trudged through the mud. He was struggling, but was obviously not going to admit to it... It was one of the things the two had in common.

Heatwave grunted as he pulled his feet out of the mud, the mud making loud sucking noises as his feet broke free and then squished back in several feet ahead. "Seeing anything?" He asked.

Kade's eyes skimmed over the surrounding trees, finally spotting a flash of pink in one of them. "Over there!"

The firebot trudged towards the tree, where two teenage girls were clinging to the upper branches of the tree. "Need a hand?" Heatwave teased as he held his palm up.

"We wouldn't_ mind_ it...!" One of them answered, carefully shifting position until she could drop down, her sister landing beside her. "All of a sudden the trail was just...Gone!"

"Hop in, girls." Kade welcomed as his partner opened the cab and he ushered the teens into the seats. "Did you see anybody else around here?"

"No...No wait! We saw Milo! He was going up to the Mount Griffin Trail."

Heatwave looked up the slope and gave a hard sigh, "Of _course_ he did..."

"Can you make it?" Kade inquired.

"Do I have much choice?"

Heatwave yanked his feet free of the mud, continuing his walk up the slope. A low rumble from above alerted him to an approaching thunderstorm, which would mean rain, which meant more water soaking the ground and loosening it from the slope. He needed to work fast.

"Milo!?" He hollered, looking around the trees for the man.

Milo sometimes was more trouble than Heatwave thought he was worth; his eagerness to take drastic measures to simple problems drove the bots up a wall, especially when it resulted in them having to save him from his drastic measures gone bad.

"He also has a bad habit of _not answering_ when you call for him...!" Heatwave thought aloud, optics narrowing. "MILO!"

"Took ya long enough!"

The New-Yorker accent came from somewhere ahead of them and to the left, and Heatwave gave a hard sigh as he passed some trees, seeing Milo half-submerged in mud.

_Primus, help me...!_ Heatwave thought. He wanted to swear so badly right now, but not in front of the kids in the cab. "Come on, Milo..."

He wrapped a hand around the man and tugged him free of the mud, optics rolling back into his helm with a sigh when Milo's boots didn't come out with him. "I hope you've got a spare pair, because I'm not...digging..."

"Heatwave?"

Kade's grip on the wheel tightened as his teammate teetered, catching himself on a nearby boulder to keep from toppling. "Heatwave, don't pass out!"

"N-Not...Going to..." Heatwave grunted through gritted teeth. He opened his cab and placed Milo inside before leaning back against the boulder. "...Just gotta rest for a second..."

"You're_ not_ okay, are you?"

Heatwave swallowed hard, looking forward as his vision blurred for a moment. He'd been feeling a little out of sorts for a few days, but he couldn't keep it from his partner, not anymore. "...No." He admitted.

"Can you make it back down the slope?" One of the girls asked.

Heatwave forced himself up onto his feet again, "...I don't have much choice, now do I...?" He panted, "...Chief-"

**We heard you, Heatwave.** Chief Burn's voice came through the comms loud and clear. **Just get those three back to town and then get yourself back to base.**

"Yes sir..." Heatwave took a few steps down the slope, shifting to his hands and knees at places where he felt he might slip.

Kade bit his lip, a memory reaching his mind. "...Remember the _last time_ one of you crashed during a-"

"Stop." Heatwave interrupted, "Just stop. I know what you're thinking, and it's false... I don't know what's up with me, but I can tell you with _absolute_ certainty...I am _not_ carrying."


	2. 2 Aha! The Truth Comes Out!

It was fortunate that Blurr and Salvage got back when they did.

A dense fog had rolled in over the island of Griffin Rock and the ocean around it as the sun fell. Though it was not late in the evening, everyone in the town had retreated to their homes early, the fog making it nearly impossible to do anything outside. The chilly, moist air was unwelcoming to anyone out in it, and it left the island in a quiet, eerie state of silence.

But although it was quiet outside, inside the Firehouse, it was not.

"Get her! Get her!" Kade shouted from behind the couch. "Come on Cody, you drive like Mrs. Neederlander!"

Cody grumbled as his fingers fiddled with the controller toggles, trying to beat Dani at yet another round of Auto Rush 4. "If you're so intent on winning Kade, you play it!"

"Nah, that wouldn't be fair to Dani."

Dani grinned, "Yeah, I'd like the possibility to lose on occasion...!"

"Hey!"

Chief Burns rolled his eyes at his kids' rivalry, tempted to make one of those "When I was your age" statements.

Chase crossed his arms. "If this were a real race, you would both be arrested for property damage, wreckless driving, poor sportsmanship-"

"But it's not." Heatwave reminded his teammate as he entered the room, "It's just a game."

"Are really encouraging this type of behaviour? Even if it is not in reality?"

"And I thought you were resting." Kade inquired.

"I'm done now." Heatwave muttered, leaving his partner and taking a seat beside Boulder.

The firetruck had gone and placed himself in a stasis pod as soon as they'd dropped off the civilians and then returned to the firehouse, and he'd been there all afternoon. Kade periodically checked on him, and the other bots as well when they returned. His vitals were stable for now, but Blades had decided he would _make_ Heatwave do a diagnostic when he woke up.

Chief Burns wasn't quite sure what to say about the 'encouraging bad sportsmanship' matter, but he _did_ know what to say about the shape stepping in front of the screen. "Uh, Blades?"

"Oh Primus...!" Blades chuckled as he walked over and picked up his son from his position of blocking the humans' view. "Come here, Snowy. You're gonna ruin your optics sitting that close."

"Actually," Graham informed, "There's not any scientific proof that sitting too close will ruin your sight."

Blades gasped at this revelation, looking at his partner. "Dani, you _lied_ to me!"

Dani just grinned, her attention remaining on their game.

"Who would've thought that you'd make such a good papa bird, Blades?" Kade teased.

"Who _didn't_, is a better question."

"Well-"

"A question that is not to be answered."

Heatwave chuckled, reaching out and stroking Snowblast's little head, the tiny dinobot giving a contented squawk in response. "I'll tell you though, I was worried he'd be another Blurr when he hatched."

"Now _I'm_ insulted!" Blurr complained, "I'm not _that_ annoying!..._Am_ I?"

"...Do you want to hear what you_ think_ you want to hear?" Salvage responded, "Or do you want to hear what you _should_ hear, which I'll tell you, and not just what you_ think_ you want to hear?"

"...Run that by me again?"

"You're a pain in the actuator sometimes." Heatwave informed, earning a pout from Blurr. "Hey, the truth hurts."

"But we like you anyway." Boulder assured, "Cuz Heatwave is annoying too."

"Excuse me!?"

Blades grinned, "Snowy's a bit annoying when he cries at night, but he's usually pretty well-behaved..."

A loud beeping came from the video game and Cody gave a hard sigh of relief as his fingers were finally able to rest. "Phew...No more for me."

"But you won." Dani repsonded, holding out a hand for a high-five. Cody returned it and then got up from the couch, stretching a little.

Blades placed his son back down on the floor as he started to squirm, and the sparkling ran over to Cody, squawking and flapping his wings excitedly.

Cody giggled, reaching up and stroking the little bot's neck. "...He's gonna outgrow all of us soon."

"They grow up so fast..." Dani murmured.

"Now you kids know how _I_ feel every time I see you..." Chief placed an arm around Cody, "I mean, my youngest is about to graduate High School, two of my kids are either married or engaged...I feel so old."

"Not to mention you have an alien grandchild, Dad." Kade teased, "And who knows? You might have _two_ kids engaged in a few months..."

Cody punched his oldest brother in the shoulder. "Like I'd do that the second me and Frankie are out of school."

"But you plan on doing it eventually though, _right_...?"

"If I did, what's it to you?"

"Aww..." Dani cooed. "My wittle bwother's all gwown up!"

"The longer we interact with you Burnses, the more we're glad we don't have siblings." Heatwave informed.

"Not biologically, but I'm sure Snowy thinks of you guys as uncles." Cody replied.

Blades picked Snowy back up, nuzzling noses with him. "It's too bad Snowy doesn't have any other little bots to play with."

Heatwave sighed, taking a sip of his energon. "Well...In a few weeks, he _will_."

He turned as Chase spewed energon, coughing a few times before looking up at Heatwave. "He'll _what_...!?" He rasped. "Heatwave-"

"Wow, Chase...Nice spit take."

Blurr's hands clenched into fists, "Slag you, Heatwave! You don't just _announce_ things like that!"

"_Language_, Blurr!" Blades scolded, covering Snowblast's audio receptors. "There are small audio receptors present...!"

"Sorry, Blades...!"

"But on another note..." Blades looked at Salvage, "_CALLED IT_!"

"Looks like you were in denial back there, partner..." Kade informed.

"Believe me Kade, I was doing everything I could to avoid it." He then grimaced, holding his torso as he stumbled back a few steps.

"Whoa whoa whoa!" Boulder caught his teammate, helping him sit down. "Why don't you just sit down..."

"I just need to watch myself is all..." Heatwave assured, "I can handle it."

"Uh...I think today's fainting fiasco proves you can't 'handle it' and function fine on missions at the same time." Kade reminded.

"Kade raises a good point..." Chief murmured, "And if you go feral like Blades did, we can't be chasing _you_ down too."

"Not to offend Blades, but Heatwave is less likely to flee a threat than he is." Chase reminded, "Also, Heatwave's dinobot mode is incapable of flight. It would be incredibly unlikely for him to leave the island should he in fact retreat."

"Good point." Boulder agreed.

There then came a chirp, and Chief Burns tapped his commlink. "Chief Burns, go ahead."

"Aaaand here it comes..." Blurr mumbled, "...Somebody decided they could see in the fog and paid for it."

Chief listened for a few moments. "We'll get right on it... Alright Team, we've got a five-car pileup by the docks."

"_Five_...!?" Blades groaned.

"Chase, Boulder, Blades, Salvage, let's get going."

The bots gave a combination of nods and eye rolls, and their partners moved to join them.

"Wait, what about me?" Blurr asked.

"We don't need a _six_-car pileup, Blurr." Kade teased as he climbed into Chase with the Chief. "You like to...jump the gun."

"But-"

"Sit, boy." Heatwave informed, patting Blurr on the helm. "Stay."

Blades handed Snowblast to Heatwave, "Just keep an eye on him, okay?"

Heatwave nodded, though he didn't seem particularly happy about staying behind. The bots transformed into vehicle mode and their partners climbed in, and then they were gone.

"So...Who's up for charades?" Blurr suggested.

Heatwave rolled his eyes, grimacing as another painful twinge pulsed through his systems. "Snow and I will be in my quarters..." He muttered, wandering down the hall and leaving Blurr alone in the garage...

...Well, not _completely_ alone. The racecar looked down at Servo, who looked back with a wagging tail.

"..._You_ up for charades?"


	3. 3 Your Definition of 'Fine' is Different

Heatwave didn't want to admit it, but he was in more pain than he was letting on. Every time he would almost get comfortable to rest, a spur of pain would shoot through him, making his joints and insides tense up. More than a few times he almost cried out, but he kept silent. He wasn't going to let his team know how much he was struggling.

By the dawn, every one of his joints ached and he didn't feel like getting up and moving. He felt worse than when he'd refocused his energy to scan another form, but he forced himself to get up. He was the leader, he couldn't let some pain keep him from his job.

It was later than he'd realized. When he entered the main portion of the bunker, everyone was already up and moving. "Morning..." He greeted, grimacing upon hearing how tired he sounded.

"Good morning, Heatwave." Blades greeted, "How're you feeling?"

"Fine." Heatwave lied, looking down at Snowblast as the sparkling gave a peep out from under a towel. "You get a bath, Snowy?"

"I was wanting to make sure it wasn't _him_ stinking up the bunker."

Heatwave raised an eyebrow, taking a whiff of the air. There _was_ an odd scent floating about, but he couldn't identify it or its source. "...Yeah, what _is_ that?"

Boulder shrugged, "Chase and I don't smell anything unusual. Just you two."

Blades scooped up his son into his arms, rubbing the tiny bot's helm with the towel and earning a purr in response. "You missed the series finale."

"Trust me, it wasn't that _good_...!" Blurr hissed, yelping as Blades tossed the towel at his faceplate. "Hey!"

"How can you say it wasn't good!? I had _no idea_ that twist would come at the end!"

"_I'm_ still trying to wrap my processor around it." Salvage admitted, "I mean, I know human customs are still foreign to me, but how could Geraldo's sister actually be his half-brother's cousin's nephew's daughter?"

Heatwave was quiet for a moment, and then shook his helm. "I don't have the energy to think about that either... What's on today's agenda?"

"_You_ are taking it easy."

Chief Burns stepped out of the elevator into the bunker, "Until we can determine the extent of how your carrying will effect you, it's just too risky to send you out into the field."

"But Chief, it was just a little dizzy spell. I'm perfectly..."

He paused as his helm began to spin, and he had to catch himself on the wall.

"This is exactly what I mean... Trust me, Heatwave. You need to rest and not strain yourself until the carrying is over."

Heatwave growled softly, stumbling over to the couch to take a seat. "...I just don't feel useless, like I'm not doing my job as leader if I'm just sitting here."

"Everybody has times when they need to step back and take care of themselves first, Heatwave. You'll be back in the field soon, just like Blades is."

"But what if you need me? We have more fires around town than anything else!"

"As true as that is, Kade does have his old truck. It'll do until you're back to running on all cylinders."

Heatwave sighed, leaning his helm back against the wall. "...Fine."

"Good. Holler if you need help with anything, and I _mean_ that."

Heatwave grumbled something under his breath, but Chief seemed assured enough to leave the pouting firetruck alone.

"Sure... I'll just sit here and do nothing today..."

Doing nothing didn't last long.

Heatwave was only sitting there a few minutes before getting antsy. When the rest of the bots went upstairs to run patrol, he found himself pacing back and forth, muttering things to himself. He caught himself pausing in front of the door to the tunnels every time, looking at it before continuing. He had this weird urge to go into the tunnels for some reason, and that smell; that weird smell wouldn't go away no matter where he went.

"What!?" He hollered into the dark passage as soon as the door was open. "What do you want from me!?"

Only his own voice replied, but he stepped into the tunnel and wandered a little ways into it, keeping the door back into the bunker within sight. "Dirt. That's all that's down here. Brown, soft... Malleable dirt."

His processor went back to the nest Blades had built. He'd mentioned just having an urge to build it, without any knowledge of why he would need it at the time. Heatwave didn't want to weave a nest out of scrap metal though...He wanted to dig. A lot.

"Scrap, I'm turning into Boulder... Or maybe Servo." He muttered as he shuffled his foot back and forth in the dirt. He looked back at the door, then at the dirt. "There's nobody down here...and if it'll make this itch go away...!"

He dug his hands into the dirt, pulling it back and smoothing out the sides as he went. He never dug too deep, just enough that when he was finished, he could lay down in the pit, and he did so, staring up at the ceiling of the tunnel.

The dirt was cool against his metal, and the tunnel was quiet, a nice break from the non-stop rescue work they'd been doing.

And that was another thing. He'd been pushing himself a lot lately, which they'd thought would prevent the carrying programming from activating. Was it false? Was the occupation and lifestyle of the parent not a factor?

Another sharp twinge pulsed through him, and he shifted position in his little hole. "Ugh...What am I doing...?" He mumbled.

"You tell me."

Heatwave jumped, sitting up and turning around to see Cody standing on the edge of the hole. "Cody...What're you doing down here?"

"Looking for you... What're _you_ doing in here?"

Heatwave groaned, laying back down and folding his hands together across his chest. "Nesting, _apparently._..I don't even know...Did you need me?"

"I was just coming to check on you...You okay?"

Heatwave shrugged, "Just frustrated that I can't hold myself together enough to do my job..."

Cody slid down the slope into the hole, taking a seat beside the firetruck. "...Mayor Luskey passed that law my Dad suggested."

"The Autobot Protection Law?"

"Uh huh. We now have a law that states 'Any human convicted of harming or endangering the lives of a cybertronian on Griffin Rock soil or in its waters will be charged and spend jailtime.'"

Heatwave gave a slight smirk, "...That won't stop some people from trying."

"Maybe, but since like, _every_ enemy we've had all came after Snowblast and were arrested, it means that there won't be any of them here to attack us for a while."

"Right..." Heatwave grimaced as another pulse of pain surged through him.

"I'm sorry you're in pain."

"It's fine... I'll just be glad when it's over." The firetruck was quiet for a moment, "...Of course, then I'll have a tiny bot to keep an optic on."

"It'll be okay. Everybody will help out, just like you help out with Snowblast."

"I suppose... If they wind up being as stubborn as me, though..."

Cody grinned, patting Heatwave's shoulder. "You'll be fine... You want me to keep quiet about your little hiding hole here?"

"For now... I mean, it's not like anybody's gonna come down here."

He finally sat up and collected Cody up into his hand. "Come on, we'd better get back inside before they all wonder where you are too..."


	4. 4 Best Bot?

It was a couple of days, but even Heatwave knew it couldn't be avoided. He left his sleeping chamber one morning in dinobot mode, and had been ever since.

He assisted around town and the Firehouse where he could, keeping an eye on Snowblast whenever the rest of the team was called out for an emergency.

Today, they were assisting in the decorating for an event the Mayor was hosting. It was a cooler morning, so Snowblast was content to be outside with them, dangling from his father's neck as Blades held a flag banner in place for Dani to secure.

Heatwave held his ladder tail up for Kade to hammer in the other side of the banner, another banner dangling from his teeth and awaiting its turn to be set up.

"You doing okay, Partner?" Kade asked.

"I'm fine. I'd rather get this done ourselves than have someone else fall off a ladder and then we have to pull them out of a tree."

"Touche."

"Remind me what these decorations are for...?" Blades whispered.

Dani sighed, "It's the Mayor's twelfth anniversary of being in office..." She muttered.

"We're not counting that break he took when Chase was in charge?" Boulder asked as he paused in his stage assembly, "Or when they thought your family was royalty?"

"Nnnnnope."

Dani hammered the last nail into the post and then turned to look behind her. "How's it looking from back there, Blurr?"

"Eh...Hmm...Maybe? Nah-"

"Blurr!" Heatwave barked, "Is it straight, or not?"

"...Straight."

"Thank you."

The firetruck sighed, "Sorry. I just...don't have the _energy_ to deal with your fooling around today."

"Good. That means we can put up this last banner and then go home so you can rest."

"I told you, I'm fine...And wouldn't you rather be working on wedding stuff with Haley?"

Kade grimaced, "Yeah, _about_ that... Haley doesn't want me to do anything with the planning and scheduling stuff. Her exact words were... '_You bring your handsome self to the ceremony and have your family make sure nothing blows up_.'"

"Which in theory wouldn't be too hard." Graham expressed, "But...This _is_ Griffin Rock, and no event after goes according to plan."

"Shh! Don't jinx it...!" Dani hissed.

Kade climbed down onto Heatwave's back, allowing his partner to move a ways down the treeline to the next post. "But there _is_ something I wanted to ask you, Heatwave..."

"If you're going to ask me if you can right 'just married' on my front window, the answer is no."

"No, not that...I need a Best Man."

The fireman nearly tumbled off of his partner's back as Heatwave came to an abrupt halt. "C-Careful!"

"S-Sorry. I just...You want _me_ to be your best man?"

"Well...Yeah! I mean, you're my partner and we spend more time together than I do anyone else on the island. You know, besides my family and Haley."

Heatwave was quiet for a moment, "...I'll need to think about it."

"That's fine! I mean, the wedding's still a couple months away, so we have time, I just wanted to ask now."

Kade tapped the ladder to alert Heatwave to lift it. "And since it'll be in a few months, you won't be dealing with your carrying by then..."

"True... Just a sparkling."

Heatwave's helm perked up as he heard voices, and both he and Kade looked over to where Chief Burns was having a conversation with Mayor Luskey. "What's going on over _there_?"

"Dunno...Sounds like Dad's kind miffed at the Mayor, though. He probably suggested some big fireworks display that'll be a fire hazard."

"Knowing Luskey...Probably. Or have the entire event televised to the Mainland."

The conversation went for a few more minutes, and then the two men split ways, Chief marching back towards the bots.

"Everything okay, Dad?" Dani asked.

Chief sighed as he shook his head, "Let's just say... Crisis averted. Let's get this finished up and then head home..."

"He wanted to _what_!?"

Heatwave gave a hard huff as he stamped a foot down. "Over my dead spark!"

"That is essentially what Chief Burns said..." Chase muttered, "You deserve as much privacy as any other sentient being at such a crucial moment."

"Filming me while I'm carrying...Do I look like that giraffe from a few years ago? Don't answer that."

Cody patted Heatwave's leg, "The good news is Dad rejected the idea and told him off. You don't have to worry about that anymore..."

"Right... Now I just have two problems: My carrying, and Kade asking me to be his best man..."

"He asked _you_?" Blurr questioned. "Why?"

"That's the exact same question I'm asking... I don't think it's a good idea."

"Why not?" Cody asked.

"The Best Man's job is to hold the rings for them, but those things are small even for you _humans_! What if I _lose_ them?"

"We could minimize you so that you're smaller." Blades suggested.

"And what if something catches fire, which considering our track record, is likely? I'd have to go get the minimizer, grow back to my full size, and then go to help. That would take forever!"

"Then be two places at once..."

The bots all turned to Quickshadow as she spoke. "You can project yourself for the wedding, and if an emergency pops up, then you can immediately go back to bot form to get to work."

"Projecting?" Cody questioned.

Quickshadow closed her optics, and then out of nowhere a young woman with short, blonde hair and in a white top and a pencil skirt appeared. "Like so." The woman responded in Quickshadow's voice. "Have any of you ever actually_ used_ your holoforms before?"

"Well... Not exactly." Boulder admitted, "We never needed to."

"I could have used mine when I went to the mainland for the Teen Pioneer ceremony I guess..." Blades murmured, "...But I forgot about it, and then when I saw all the effort Graham put into that holoprojector for me-"

Cody shrugged, "It worked out in the end..."

Quickshadow's human form disappeared and she opened her optics again. "Just forge a holoform to stand in your place during the wedding; if something happens, then you can snap back into bot mode immediately."

The slightest smirk formed on the firebot's lips. "Hmm...That just might work."

"Having one on hand would be a suitable idea for _all_ of us." Chase informed, "If we should become separated from our partners at any given time, we have a driver to cover for them."

"Sounds like a plan to me." Cody agreed with a grin, "I'd better head upstairs for dinner. I'll see you all later."

"Bye Cody..."

Heatwave watched the teenager disappear into the elevator, and then started to limp down the hall. "I'll be in my room..."

"Alright...Goodnight." Blades murmured.

Heatwave wandered into the room he used to sleep, settling down on the floor and resting his helm down on the cool concrete. With his components being slowly squished by the increasing protomatter collecting and putting pressure on him, he was always in at least some pain. But as he laid still on the floor, he felt movement for the first time. His optics widened a little, craning his neck to nudge his side.

"So that's it now..." He whispered, "...You're really in there."

He felt the sparkling move a little, a foot or maybe their helm brushing against his metal. They settled down after a few minutes, and Heatwave finally closed his optics and allowed himself to fall into sleep mode.

The next morning, Heatwave didn't wake up when he usually did. The rest of the bots were up and moving, but even as noon began to creep closer, the firebot still hadn't emerged from his room. Chase and Blades eventually headed out with their partners to patrol the island, and Quickshadow left the island entirely, saying she had something she needed to take of on the mainland, but she'd be back in a few days. High Tide was rarely off of his ship off the coast, always scanning the sea for intruders and only coming inland for supplies.

This left Boulder, Blurr and Salvage alone in the Firehouse, occupied by their own interests. Boulder was reading a book, while Blurr and Salvage had started a ring-toss tournament with scrap that Salvage had collected.

"What do you think Heatwave's doing in there?" Blurr murmured.

Boulder shrugged, "He did seem rather tired last night... Why don't you go check on him?"

Blurr grumbled, but didn't disregard the bulldozer's suggestion. He wandered down the hall, and for several moments the remaining two resumed their tasks, before Blurr came rushing back down the hall.

"He's gone!"


	5. 5 Flood Warning

"What do you mean, he's gone?"

Boulder placed his book back on the shelf, never taking his optics off of the racecar.

"I mean he's not in his room, and he's not down here. He couldn't have gotten upstairs without us noticing...Right?"

The three bots were all up the elevator in an instant, searching the garage for their teammate, but he was nowhere to be seen.

"You don't think he left the island, do you?" Salvage asked.

"If he did, High Tide would-"

**Boulder, come in!**

Dani's voice came ringing through the comm unit. **Get over to Walnut and Sixth. A sinkhole opened up and Chase fell in!**

"Understood." Boulder informed as Graham came sliding down the pole to join him. "Blurr, come with me. Salvage, stay here in case Heatwave comes back and contact High Tide to ask him if he's seen anything."

"Yes sir!" Salvage replied with a salute, and then Boulder and Blurr transformed into vehicle mode.

"Heatwave's missing too?" Graham worried.

"It's a long story. Let's make sure Chase is alright first..."

_Chase? Chase, come on, wake up...!_

Chase could hear his partner's voice speaking to him, but it was distant and murky. He struggled to find it, while also trying to remember what had just transpired. His processor slowly pieced it together; they'd been driving down the street when it had suddenly broken open and they'd both plummeted into the darkness. He must've hit something other than the dirt underneath, because his helm was pounding like a drum.

The waking world snapped back into focus in a flash, and he gave a gasp as his optics opened and stared out into the darkness.

"Whoa! Easy Chase, easy..."

"Ch-Chief..." Chase rasped, his optics searching the murky brown haze around him, and bubbles occasionally floating into his view told him he was at least partially submerged in dirty water. "A-Are you harmed?"

"Some bruises from the seatbelt digging into my shoulders, but otherwise fine... What about you? You were out for a minute."

Chase shifted again, his chassis creaking under the water. "...Minor damage..."

He tried to get to his feet, but found something heavy and stiff holding his legs to the floor up to his knee joint. "...But I'm afraid my legs are pinned under debris, and my current position prevents me from digging myself out."

"Don't worry, we'll think of something..."

Chief looked up as light appeared from above the water, and Chase struggled, pushing up on his hands into the mud and finally getting his helm above the water.

"CHASE!" Blades hollered from above, and Chase spat water from his mouth before making out the crack in the ground they'd fallen through above them. "Are you alright!?"

"Not exactly..." Chase admitted through the comms. "My legs are pinned, I cannot get free on my own."

**Don't worry, we'll get you out.** Blades informed, **Boulder, hurry. We need to widen the opening.**

**No. Too risky.** Graham argued, **If we try to make the hole larger, then we run the risk of caving the roof in on top of them.**

**Well we can't just****_ leave_**** them there!**

Chase sighed, trying to think of another solution but coming up with none. "...Blades, send your tow line down into the tunnel and take Chief Burns back up to the surface."

Chief placed a hand on the monitor, his eyebrows furrowing. "Chase, I'm not leaving you down here all by yourself."

"The water is only getting deeper as it fills up this part of the tunnel, and my cab will run out of oxygen eventually. I do not require oxygen and can remain here until a solution is found..._Please_."

Chief sighed, and then unstrapped his seatbelt. "I don't like this..."

"Nor do I, sir. But your safety is more important than my comfort."

"...Stay safe."

"Of course, sir."

Chief gasped as Chase's windshield opened and the chilly water came rushing in. He was knocked back against the back, but then swam out and up towards the light. He gasped as his head broke the surface, looking at his partner's helm trying to stay above the surface to keep an eye on him.

"Lowering the winch!" Blades hollered, and after a few seconds, the hook came splashing down into the water.

Chief swam over to it and grabbing tightly to the rope. "We'll be back for you, Chase!" He assured as the winch began to lift up once more.

Chase gave him a nod, before the water swallowed his helm once more and the rescue bot was completely submerged. The police bot's helm was beginning to spin, and he allowed himself to rest it back down on the bottom, closing his optics to rest for just a few cycles.

Chief clung to the rope as it pulled him closer and closer to the light, and winced as he finally broke free into the freedom of the surface.

"Dad!" Graham helped Chief away from the crack. "Are you okay?"

"Fine, son... Let's just get to work finding a way to get _Chase_ out of there." Chief grabbed the hem of his shirt and wrung out some of the dirty water.

"Not to mention we still need to find Heatwave." Boulder informed. "We checked his room and he was gone."

**Did you check the bunker tunnels?** Cody asked through the comms.** He's been spending a lot of time down there.**

**Not yet.** Salvage informed, **Snowy and I will take a look.**

"Be careful," Chief informed, "The tunnels may_ all_ be at jeopardy of collapsing..."

Heatwave was well aware of the tunnels lack of structural integrity. He didn't remember how he wound up down there, but he was here, and something was pulling him deeper into them... An odd smell.

It wasn't the smell he and Blades had picked up the other day; _that_ smell had been identified as Heatwave himself. The firebot had scrubbed himself down helm to heel strut, but it still persisted, so since he and Blades were the only ones whose olfactory sensors were picking it up, he just left it alone.

No, _this_ smell was different, and he wasn't going to stop until he'd determined its origin and made sure it wasn't harmful to humans.

As the tunnel dipped downward, he found himself stepping into water that was steadily getting deeper. His feet squished into the mud, but never more than a few inches as he trudged through. The smell was getting stronger, which meant he was getting closer.

**Heatwave, do you copy?**

Salvage's voice crackled with static as he tried to contact the firebot, and Heatwave paused for a moment to answer. "I'm here, Salvage. What is it?"

**Where are you? We couldn't find you at the Firehouse, so-**

"I'm on a mission. Something smells down here and I'm going to make sure it's not hazardous."

**Since when do ****_you_**** bother investigating ****_bad smells_****?**

"Salvage."

**Sorry... Just be careful, alright? You don't want to get trapped like Chase is.**

"Chase is trapped somewhere?"

**One of the tunnels collapsed and he-**

"I'm going to help him. I'll keep you posted."

**But Heatwave, Chief Burns told you not to-**

Heatwave blocked out the rest of the transmission; he'd deal with the Chief's wrath later. He placed the uncovering of the scent's source in the back of his processor for now, focusing on finding his teammate. The murky water continued to increase in depth, until it was splashing up against his underside, his neck stretched forward and head held low as he searched the walls of the tunnel for clues.

The sparkling evidently did not like the cold of the water seeping through his plating, squirming and making the Firebot wince as they pushed on other parts of him in an effort to get away from the cold. "Just a little rescue op, nothing to worry about." Heatwave assured.

He shuffled his feet along the bottom, beginning to feel other debris than just the muddy floor of the passage. He followed the debris path until his lights lit up a large obstruction in front of him. Rocks, wood, mud and asphalt formed the pile, and water was spraying out through the cracks, implying that once removed, a flood of water would come rushing into this side of the cavern as well.

Just the same, it would need to be moved in order to continue, and that odd smell was conveniently stronger in the direction he was going.

Heatwave started at the top, tugging pieces of rock and asphalt out of the way and tossing them aside. As he removed the debris piece by piece, others were knocked loose by the water pushing its way through. His feet tugged boulders free from the edges of the bottom, and slowly but surely the obstruction began to be washed back Heatwave's direction. Heatwave stood fast as he felt it brush past his legs and the trickles of water became streams.

After a few minutes, he stepped aside, watching as nature took over the cleaning up and large chunks of the wall disappeared back the direction he'd come and then being sucked down a neighboring tunnel that sloped downward. It then shuddered, and as the water on the other side receded, Heatwave saw a familiar helm break free of the water. "Chase!"

Chase coughed up water, his faceplate barely above the water now. "H-Heatwave! What're you doing down here? Chief Burns gave you explicit instructions not to-"

"Not to leave the Firehouse unless it was a true emergency. I know." Heatwave muttered. He walked over and kicked more debris off of his teammate until Chase was finally able to break free and was washed backward. Heatwave held out his tail, letting Chase hold onto it until the police-bot got his feet underneath him. "Are you hurt?"

Chase leaned forward a little to dump some water out of his open cab. "Just my pride...And perhaps my head." He muttered, putting a hand to his helm. "Leaning forward no longer seems like a wise decision...!"

Heatwave smirked, turning back towards the way he'd come. "Come on, let's get you back to the Firehouse so Blades can take a look at you..." He then paused a moment, sniffing the air. "...It's _you_."

"What is me?"

"Nothing, Chase... Nothing at all."


	6. 6 The Newest

"I'm starting to think that the Carrying is making you even _more_ stubborn..." Chief muttered, "What were you _thinking_...!?"

Heatwave shrugged, "I dunno." He admitted, "...I just...Did it."

"I saw that... I might just have High Tide stay here to keep an eye on you from now on." Chief Burns glared at the firetruck for several moments and then relaxed with a hard sigh. "...But since you rescued Chase, I'm going to let this one time slide."

Heatwave looked to Chase as he laid on the medical table, Blades running a scanner over him. The police bot had passed out again a few minutes after Heatwave had gotten him back to the Firehouse, and while Blades had determined the cause was repairable, it was going to take a day or two of healing stasis and he wanted to check for other hidden damage.

"That _was_ rather reckless," Boulder agreed as he patted the leader's shoulder, "but I'd expect nothing less from you. You've been that way as long as we've known you."

"I remember that day..." Blades murmured with reminiscence, "...He nearly ran me over coming into class late."

"And the professor told me that if I was going to make being late a habit, to just hang up my training badge." Heatwave added, "I was never late again. Even showed up early most sessions."

"So _that's_ where you get your impatience..." Kade teased, getting a glare from his partner. "Hey, _I'm_ guilty of it too."

Dani let out a huge gasp, grabbing her older brother's arm. "You admit to it? Who are you and what have you done with my brother!? Has Haley infected you!?"

"I think it's the other way around, or else she wouldn't be _marrying_ him." Blurr mocked, getting a playful whack in the helm by Salvage. "Ouch."

"Ooh! Speaking of marriage, I got started working on a holoform for it." Boulder announced. "I'd show you, but the clothing part is still a work in progress."

"Me too!" Blurr informed, "I can't decide between a typical racer's uniform or something more casual."

"I don't think it matters," Heatwave narrowed his optics with a grin, "Yours is gonna look weird either way...!"

"Ah! _That_ hurts!"

Kade shook his head, "I...Think I _missed_ something. Holoforms?"

"We'll explain later, Kade." Graham promised, "Right now we need to discuss what we're gonna do about your... digging problem."

Heatwave looked at Cody, who waved his arms and shook his head. "...You know about that?"

"Uh...Yeah." Salvage smirked as he looked at his best friend, "One second Blurr is next to me, the next he's a good six feet or so shorter and face-down in the dirt."

"Oh, well _that's_ not bad."

"Not bad!?" Blurr started but was stopped by Salvage putting a hand over his mouth.

Heatwave sighed, "Fine. So I've been digging. What's the problem?"

"Um, how about the fact that the tunnels are flooding with rainwater and you keep going out there to dig pits, probably to give birth or lay an egg in? That _can't_ be a good mix."

Heatwave sighed, "I guess we should consider that..."

"Sandbox."

The family turned to Cody as he spoke up from where he'd been doodling on a notepad. "What?" Kade questioned.

Cody held up an image of a large rectangle. "We build a giant sandbox and then put it somewhere private, like maybe that garage under Doc Greene's lab, and then Heatwave has something to dig in that won't be flooded."

Graham and Boulder looked at one another and then back to the team as they spoke in unison. "Piece of cake."

Chief's eyebrows furrowed as he pointed a finger at Heatwave. "Heatwave, I do not want you leaving this Firehouse unless I give you specific permission until further notice, understood?"

Heatwave hesitated only a moment before nodding slowly. "Understood, Chief..."

"Good. Now that that's been solved..." Chief rubbed his neck, "...I'm going to call the Chiropractor. That fall did a number on my back, and I'm not as young as I once was..."

The humans all left the bots to head upstairs, and Blades placed a hand on the leader's shoulder. "...You don't know if you can keep that promise to the Chief, do you...?" He whispered.

Heatwave shook his head, "I...I really don't remember going down there. I just remember suddenly being there and making the best of it... It has me concerned if possibly entire hours of my memory banks is just gone."

"It'll be okay, Heatwave. And you know you can talk to us about anything."

"Yeah...I know..."

* * *

Heatwave didn't leave the Firehouse, just like the Chief had ordered; in fact, he hardly left his quarters. When he did, it was only for brief periods to refuel on energon and perhaps check on what had happened that day. Nobody mentioned how fatigued he looked, or how with each passing day, his chassis was beginning to warp outward.

He was well aware of how tired he was; the sparkling barely paused movement for very long, but after one particularly painful shift where he literally felt them turn around, there had been barely a kick.

But it was only twenty-four hours later when the Sandbox was put into use. It had been built with plenty of room for him to both dig and to shift position so he wasn't stuck standing in one place the whole time; which turned out to be handy because even after the contractions started, it was several hours before there was any real action.

It was almost 2 AM, but all of the humans were settled down in the garage under the Lab; none of them wanted to miss _this_ birth. They had decided on having it at the lab to minimize the townsfolk overhearing anything and getting overly curious. Not even Huxley knew anything about where they were. Boulder and Salvage had offered to stay back at the Firehouse to keep an eye on things and watch Snowblast, who Blades had deemed too little to experience this just yet.

The firebot had dug out a pit just like before and had been pacing back and forth for quite some time, loud creaking sounds coming from his chassis as it squeezed and tightened. He'd occasionally give grunts with a pained expression, but otherwise, it was a long, tense silence that filled the space.

Blades was there with medical tools, standing back for now but ready for the moment he might need to assist. "Just take it at your own pace..." He encouraged.

Kade was sitting on a crate, wringing his hands and wincing every time his partner was in pain. He was just like an impatient father, waiting for the big news to be announced.

"T-Thanks for the pep talk, Blades..." Heatwave hissed, before his face twisted again and his back legs bent closer to the ground for a moment. "Ah...! Ah, that one...! A-Also...I take back every time I called you a wimp...! You did this without any painkillers...!"

"That's right...I _did_." Blades murmured with a confident grin, looking down when Dani smacked his shin with a towel.

Heatwave's face twisted up even more and he bent down, giving grunts as he pushed. "Okay...Okay, almost there...!" He whispered to himself, "...Gah, Primus...!"

"Actually Heatwave, I don't see-"

"SHUT UP BLURR!"

Cody stroked the firebot's muzzle, "You're doing great... Just hang in there..."

Heatwave relaxed after a few seconds, and then after a minute passed was back at it, his optics shifting between their regular blue and the feral greenish-yellow they'd known Blades to take on during his budding. Cody shifted position so he could see, and saw a head and two front legs protruding...Then as soon as the shoulders were free, the sparkling broke free and crashed down into the sand. "It's out!"

Heatwave was on it in a millisecond. He turned around, spraying sand out of the box a little in his haste and then bent his head down to nudge the shape squirming in the slippery soil.

They were in the form of a brachiosaurus, just like Heatwave, and were silvery like Snowblast had been, but a darker shade and their colorless optics were wide open and looking back at Heatwave as he gave a low rumbling sound. They responded with a squeak, their long neck reaching up until their muzzles touched.

"We got ourselves a femme...!" Blades cooed as he came over with a towel, helping wipe energon and other fluids off of her.

"Another _girl_...!" Dani cooed, "She's so cute!"

And strong, apparently. Within a few wobbly moments, the new member was pulling herself up onto her feet, her fire-hose of a tail swishing back and forth as she chattered to Heatwave, who murmured back.

"Look at her...!" Kade whispered, his eyes widening a little as she looked in his direction and hissed a little. "Ooh...Fiesty, are we?"

Heatwave nudged his daughter and then stepped out of the sandbox. The little bot scrambled to join him, but slipped in the sand and dropped back down.

"You're probably better off in there for now..." Heatwave assured. She cried for him and he bent down, nuzzling her helm. "I'm not going anywhere..."

Chief Burns smirked, and then placed a hand on Kade and Dani's shoulders. "Let's leave them to bond...I think Heatwave can handle her for the rest of the night."

Heatwave nodded in agreement, looking up to his teammates. "I'll be back at the Firehouse as soon as I can."

"We know..." Boulder teased, "...You can't stay away from the job for very long if you can help it."

Heatwave grinned and then watched the group head for the exit. He turned back to the little bot still trying to escape the slippery sandbox and failing. "Don't worry, you'll figure it out eventually...And _that_ kind of worries _me_..."


	7. 7 While the Leader Rests

"Okay...Now."

Heatwave started out of the alleyway, his optics searching the streets for movement as he held his daughter in his arms like a small dog. It had only been a few hours since he'd given birth; his body still hurt from the ordeal, but he knew that the hours of early morning would mean less humans on the streets, and he wasn't ready for his daughter to have her first closeup just yet.

He was grateful when they reached the firehouse and the garage door was open, allowing him to slip inside quickly and then close it behind him. Still, he waited until the door was completely closed before relaxing and setting his daughter down on the floor. She stumbled a few steps on her inexperienced legs, but quickly regained her footing. She squeaked to him, and he transformed back into dino mode to lead her further into the garage.

"Heatwave?"

The firebot looked to the bulldozer as he entered view, and then to his daughter as she ducked under him for protection. "Aww...It's okay, I'm not gonna hurt you."

Heatwave bent down, looking to his daughter and then to Boulder. "Downpour...This is your Uncle Boulder." He introduced. "Come on, it's okay."

Downpour tiptoed out from under her father, her long neck reaching out as she sniffed Boulder's awaiting hand.

"See? Nothing to be afraid of." Boulder assured, giving a smile. "...She's gonna be just like you, I can tell."

"Oh joy..." Heatwave muttered with a smirk, the smirk being replaced with a grimace as his insides pulsed with pain. "Ah...!"

"Still hurting?"

"Y-Yes... Could you watch her for a little while? I need to refuel and then rest."

"Of course." Boulder gave the little bot's muzzle a gentle boop as her father started to walk away, and he gave a reassuring wink at her before heading for the energon storage.

Heatwave paused however, as he passed the medical bay, looking in to see Chase and Blades exiting. "Chase?"

In the passing days after his fall into the tunnels, Chase had seemed to be fine, excepting some aches and pains. Heatwave had even seen him and Chief go out on patrol the previous afternoon, so it was concerning to see him back in the medical bay.

"Heatwave." Blades greeted, "Welcome back. I was just checking in on Chase, he felt out of sorts when he came out of recharge this morning."

Heatwave nodded, looking between his two teammates. "And the result?"

"It is nothing to be concerned over." Chase informed, "Now if you will excuse me, I have a patrol to prepare for."

The pair watched him wander out of earshot, and then Heatwave turned back to Blades. "You're getting better at your medical poker face, Blades, but I can tell there's something you didn't tell him."

Blades' eyebrows furrowed as he looked away, "...Yes. There was only about a 24-hour period, so there wasn't much by the time it happened, but..."

"Blades..."

Blades lowered his voice even lower, "...The humans call it a 'Miscarriage.'"

Heatwave's optics widened as he registered the word in his processor. "...He was carrying _too_...?"

"Only for about 24 hours, like I said. But...Yes." The medic's optics shifted down the hallway where Chase had gone, "...I'm not telling him. He didn't know anything about it, and at this point, there is nothing more I or anyone else can do... I don't think he needs to know."

Heatwave nodded, "Ignorance is bliss... Fine then."

The firetruck continued his wandering down the hall, finding the energon storage room. He transformed into bot mode once more, popping open a cube and then slowly sipping on it as he headed for his quarters. He was tired and hurting, but was at peace knowing he could rest for a little bit and his team would keep Downpour out of trouble for a little while...

* * *

"Babies...!" Dani cooed as she slid down the pole. The second she hit the floor, her eyes were on the little brachiosaur currently in Boulder's arms. "Aww...!"

"Her name's Downpour." Blurr informed with a smirk, "Fitting name for how she was born..."

"Giraffes drop babies from high levels_ too,_ you know...!" Boulder grumbled, stroking the femme's helm and earning a soft purring sound from her. "You like that...?"

A chirp caught their attention, and they looked up to see Snowblast peeking down from the nest with curiosity.

"Come on down here, Snowy." Blades encouraged, "Come say hi."

Snowblast hesitated for a moment and then crawled down the pillar, his optics wide as he looked back at Downpour's. He then slowly reached out, his fingers brushing Downpour's muzzle. The little brachiosaurus looked down at the ice that had formed on her nose, and then gave a sneeze, startling the tiny pterosaur into scrambling back up the pillar a ways with a squeak.

"Aww...!" Dani cooed as Blades collected his son and held him in his arms. "It's okay, Snowy...!"

Blades decided to try the introduction again, bending down and letting the two sparklings be close again, but still holding onto his son for comfort.

Snowblast was hesitant to interact again with this sparkling well over twice his height, but Downpour was not hesitant at all. She bent her head down, nudging Snowblast with her nose until he looked her in the optic again. She gave a chattering sound, and Snowblast squeaked a little in response, before reaching out and touching her helm again.

"See...? There's nothing to be scared of..." Blades reassured, "She's just like you...Well, sort of."

"Where's Heatwave?" Dani asked.

"In his quarters recovering." Boulder stroked both sparklings' helms with a grin, "I don't blame him. With these two making friends, I have a feeling we're all going to need all the rest we can get."

"GUYS!" Salvage came rushing down from the bots' command center, "Guys, Optimus Prime just called. There was an attack on Crown City where Bumblebee's team is stationed!"

"Is Bumblebee hurt?" Blades worried, standing up straight again.

"I don't think so, but he says the first responders there could really use some help while they take out the Decepticons responsible. Quickshadow's already waiting at the groundbridge."

The other bots nodded in understanding, and then Chase spoke up. "Boulder, can you and Blades handle any emergencies here?"

After a nod of confirmation, the police-bot turned back to the newer recruits. "Salvage, Blurr, come with me."

The trio then hurried out of the garage, heading down the hallway towards the groundbridge.

Boulder looked down and caught Downpour as she attempted to scramble after them. "Whoa there, Downy!" He chuckled, "You can't go with them... One day, but not yet."

Downpour gave a disappointed whine, her optics focusing on the way she was being denied. Even in her newborn processor, barely able to understand even simple things, a spark of wanting to explore was flourishing, one that did not like to be told 'No.'

* * *

The second the Rescue Bots stepped out of the groundbridge, their optics and olfactory sensors were met with the blur and smell of smoke. Chase led the charge, his optics overlooking a city he'd never seen, but knew was in dire need of help. Smoke plumed from shattered building fronts, concrete and burning debris littered the streets, and humans were slowly but surely pulling themselves and each other out of the wreckage.

"Primus... It looks like a bomb went off." Blurr murmured.

"From the message I received from Optimus, that's essentially what occurred." Quickshadow informed. "Blurr, you stick with me."

Chase nodded in agreement, and then watched the pair split off from them and head down one of the other streets.

"You're the good guys, I hope."

Chase looked down to see Crown City's police chief standing at his feet, and he bent down. "Affirmative. I am Chase and this is Salvage. We are allies of the Autobots stationed nearby here, and we are trained for rescue work and disaster relief."

The chief gave a grin, "Well I am glad to hear _that_! You can start on 7th street with Fire District 12."

"You got it!" Salvage announced.

The pair transformed into vehicle mode and then followed the Chief's direction towards 7th street. Chase tried not to focus too hard on all of the damage around him, but he felt it triggering something in the back of his memory... Something he'd wanted to stay forgotten.

"You alright, Chase?" Salvage observed, "You look a little tense."

"A-Affirmative." Chase stammered, clearing his processor once more. "Just... This reminds me of a mission back on Cybertron."

"_This_? But I thought you were off-world before the war started."

"We were... But tensions were still high right before we left. It all blew up just days after we were lost..." The police-bot paused to swerve around a large chunk of debris. "We were called to an area that had become quite Pro-Decepticon, though they didn't call themselves that at the time... A fight had broken out in a bar that had erupted into something far worse. We were sent in to assist in rescuing any remaining bots in the rubble; most of them remained online until we could arrive, but...There was one femme... I had been the one to find her, lying in pieces behind one of the booths... and that image will forever stay in my memory banks."

"...It must've been horrible. I'm sorry."

"We checked her file. She wasn't involved in the fight, just an innocent bystander who lost her life in a brawl over _politics_...!" Chase seethed, and then after several seconds gave a hard sigh. "Nothing can be done of it now... We must focus on the current task."

The pair pulled up to a blockade where two firetrucks were struggling to put out a fire on one side of the building, and rescue humans trapped on upper levels on another. "We are here to help." Chase informed as they transformed back into bot mode.

"Sounds like a plan." One of the firefighters replied, "Go talk to the chief, and he'll get you started..."


	8. 8 Breaking Down

When Heatwave awoke from stasis, he could feel the difference it had made. Though still achy, the sharp pulses of pain were gone, and his strength was returning.

Unfortunately, he hadn't woken on his own terms. His optics had flown open at the sound of a cry, and he sat up to see Downpour's head resting on the foot of his berth like a sad puppy. Her optics were wide, soft whines escaping her voice box.

The firetruck sighed, getting up from the berth and scooping his daughter up into his arms. "You're gonna be nothing but trouble, I can tell." He informed her as he wiped trails of tears from her cheeks. "You know _how_ I can tell? For one thing, you apparently don't like being anywhere I'm_ not_, and second..." He pointed to the door, "I distinctly remember _locking_ that door."

He then noticed just how quiet it was, and as soon as he opened the door, he found it quiet out in the firehouse as well. No chattering of his teammates, not even their footsteps shaking the floor. "...Hello?" He hollered, tiptoeing out into the main space and searching for clues. "Blades? Chase?... Anyone?"

He found nothing however; nobody in the bunker, the garage, or outside, and even Snowblast was gone from his usual position in the nest. The firetruck then resorted to comms. "Cody, do you copy?"

**Hi, Heatwave! You're awake!** Cody responded, and Heatwave gave a sigh of relief.

"Where_ is_ everyone? The garage and bunker are deserted."

**Blades and Boulder went into town to deal with a minor traffic jam, Chase, Blurr, Salvage and Quickshadow were called to assist with an emergency in Crown City, and Snowy is napping up here in the command center with me.**

"What kind of emergency? And you didn't bother to wake me to tell me this?"

**They left shortly after you went to your quarters, and nobody wanted to wake you when you needed the rest.**

"I can't argue with that..."

**As for what exactly was going on in Crown City, we didn't get a whole lot of info. Only that there was a lot of damage and the first responders there could use an assist. I imagine the other bots can fill us in when they get back, which shouldn't be too much longer.**

"Hmm." Heatwave wandered over to the garage door, looking out over the street. Downpour snuggled her head against his neck with a satisfied purring sound, and he stroked her back as he felt her sparkrate slowing until she was fast asleep. He then carefully moved back into his quarters, laying her down on the berch and pulled the tarp blanket over her.

He tiptoed out of the room and then closed the door, double-checking that she hadn't woken up before heading back out into the garage as he heard Blurr's engine rev. "Welcome back." He greeted, looking at the four bots all covered in dust, dirt and ashes.

"Hmm." Chase muttered as he wandered past him, "I am going to as the humans say 'hit the showers'..."

Heatwave watched the police-bot disappear down into the bunker, and then turned back to the remaining trio. "What happened?"

"I swear it wasn't _me_!" Blurr defended, "But man, you should have _seen_ it, Heatwave. It was like a bomb went off!"

Quickshadow stepped forward, "...It was a Decepticon attack. Bumblebee's team handled the situation, but there was significant damage to partcular structures."

"Any fatalities?"

"Two..." Salvage murmured sadly, "...Chase said it reminded him of something that happened during a mission of yours back on Cybertron...Involving a bar fight."

Heatwave's eyebrows furrowed as his optics shifted downward, "I remember that day... Chase ran out to puke after he found the body, and Blades' medical mentor went to tend to him... Chase hasn't really been the same since. I mean, he's always been a pusher for following the rules and researching the hell out of things, but... He used to be more expressive."

He was quiet for a moment, and then waved them off. "Go on and get yourselves cleaned up."

His teammates started towards the elevator and Heatwave sighed, looking up as Quickshadow placed a hand on his shoulder.

"Hey, I really think you should take Kade up on his offer."

"To be his best man? Why?"

The femme smirked, "Come on. Kade's just given you full permission to say whatever you want about him in front of a live audience. You don't get chances like that very _often_."

The fire truck looked thoughtful for a moment, and then a smile joined hers. "You raise an excellent point... Alright then. I'd better get that holoform finished..."

"You should..."

* * *

That night, the Burnses went up to the Lab to have dinner with the Greenes. The Big Four accompanied them, leaving Quickshadow and High Tide to watch the sparklings for a few hours. It had taken some convincing to get High Tide to agree, but in the end it had been Cody to work it out, unsurprisingly.

The bots stood outside the lab, the air rapidly cooling as the breeze came in from the ocean. Blades and Boulder had started some sort of game with pebbles Blades had found along the perimeter, but Heatwave was watching Chase, who hadn't said much since he got back from their mission. He didn't seem angry, but rather in some sort of daze, staring out over the island with distant optics.

The firetruck moved towards him slowly, carefully taking a place beside his teammate and not speaking for several moments. "...Don't tell me that you're fine, because that face tells me you're not."

"Have you ever felt like you're going to burst?"

Heatwave raised an eyebrow, "You mean like when Blurr's just being himself and you want to say a few choice words, but you can't because there's children around, so you-"

"No." Chase's hissed through his teeth, and then he closed his eyes tightly as his helm drooped downward. "I mean... You think you've been acting accordingly to your beliefs, but then you have an experience that rips that belief apart and you realize you've been telling yourself a lie this whole time...!?"

"Chase..."

Heatwave placed a hand on his teammate's shoulder, Chase taking it and squeezing it tightly. "...You mean how you've been stuffing it in ever since the _Sub-Well Incident_?"

The police-bot began to shake, "They told me to pull myself together...! I did...! I thought... I thought if I just didn't show it, it would make it easier...! That I could be strong. But when Chief had that building collapse on him a few years back, when I thought for a brief second that I might've lost someone else...I almost broke, Heatwave...I'm _not_ strong!"

Heatwave looked up as Chase's cry caught Blades and Boulder's attention, and then he did something he would never admit to Kade, or anyone for that matter; he pulled Chase into his arms and held him tightly against his chestplate. "You are _too_..." He whispered, "Caring about life and protecting it is what makes us Autobots, remember? You're not weak for feeling upset when a spark goes out."

"How am I supposed to be a good rescue bot if I cannot keep my emotions in check when others are in pain? Those humans in Crown City... I didn't even _know_ them!"

"So?" Blades and Boulder joined in the hug, Blades giving a smile. "I cry over my TV shows, and I don't know them either."

"The humans refer to it as being soft," Boulder encouraged, "And there's nothing wrong with that. Even if you have to hold yourself together out on a rescue, you can certainly let all that stress out when we get back to the bunker."

"There's a lot of emotional strain that comes with this kind of job... At the time, we didn't have a choice of what occupation we were put in, but would you trade it for something else? Would you trade _us_?"

Heatwave felt the police bot finally return the embrace, his faceplate resting against Heatwave's shoulder.

"You know damn well I would never give up this team...!" Chase responded, "Not ever...!"

"Good..."

They finally pulled away, and Heatwave patted Chase's shoulders, "Now get a grip, okay? Go for a nice long drive if you need to. We'll handle things until you get back."

Chase nodded, and then looked back out over the island for a moment more before transforming and driving off into the darkness.

"Hey guys."

The bots turned to see Cody and Frankie coming out of the lab towards them, "Did Chase just leave?"

"Yeah..." Heatwave informed with a nod, "He... Needed some air."


	9. 9 Learning Experiences

Days passed, and Downpour's coloring began to come in as a dark gray with hints of red on her head and tail, and bright green optics that studied everything.

Her personality also came out very quickly; she was infatuated with Heatwave. She followed him everywhere in the garage and bunker, she watched him practice his martial arts, snuggled up with him at night and would cry when he didn't stay with her, and would randomly headbutt him if she thought he was ignoring her.

Then again, she headbutted _all_ of the bots; she _hated_ being ignored, what baby didn't?

The only bot that hadn't yet been a victim of a good attention-seeking nudge was Snowblast, who after winding up in a roughhousing session with Downpour for a few seconds, wouldn't allow himself to be put down on the floor with her. Downpour complained, but the little pterosaur didn't seem to care.

One afternoon, Downpour had been acting particularly pushy to everyone, with more headbutts being dealt out than normal. Heatwave was cosidering locking her in his quarters just for some peace; the old Heatwave was back, and he was over his brief 'all of my attention is on my child' phase.

Then, out of nowhere, Blades came up with what could potentially be the worst idea known to bot.

"Let's take the sparklings up to Mr. Bufkin's farm! Kids_ love_ farm animals!"

Heatwave now found himself standing in the muddy driveway of the farm, a harness of sorts strapped around Downpour to keep her within reach of him if she suddenly decided to attempt to chase the chickens or ducks across the countryside. Snowblast was in Blades' arms, and Chief Burns was talking to Mr. Bufkin, assuring him that none of his livestock or crops would be harmed by this little 'learning experience.'

The first animals they encountered were the cows, who aside from the occasional glance at them, didn't seem too bothered by their presence. Heatwave was grateful for that, because he had a feeling that if they bolted, so would his daughter.

Snowblast however, was completely mesmerized by the brown and white creatures that stood before him, and he cooed with wide optics as one came closer to him. It mooed at him, and Heatwave watched his beak open and close as he tried to mimic the sound, but instead just emitted soft clicks.

Downpour placed her feet up against the stone wall separating them, and as another cow mooed at her, she also made an effort to copy, hers coming out sounding more like an owl's hoot than a cow.

"See?" Blades murmured, "I told you this would be a good idea."

"So far..." Heatwave muttered, and then Downpour tugged on the harness as she saw something else that caught her attention: A barn cat. "Oh dear."

Unlike the cows, the feline was not interested in interacting with the giant metal visitors, and as Downpour bent her head down to get closer, it spat and hissed, it's fur sticking up and ears folded back.

Downpour didn't seem to get the message it was trying to convey, not even when it slashed its claws across her muzzle, barely leaving any scratches on the protometal. She pulled her head back just a tad in confusion, only to watch the cat dart off into the barn and disappear amongst the hay bales.

"Cats are just like that." Heatwave told her, "You might as well get used to it."

A loud shriek made him turn, and he found to his relief that it was one of delight. Snowblast had been introduced to the small flock of sheep, and was touching their soft wool with his fingers with a look of pure joy. He had never seen the little sparkling so happy, except maybe when he first encountered snow. Blades even sat him down by the fence, and he gently petted the fluffy creatures' noses through it. He tried to copy their bleats as well, but was still only clicking and giggling.

"I think we found his favorite." Blades murmured with a grin, "That's right... Gentle..."

Downpour was still struggling to follow the cat, so Heatwave picked her up, turning her away from the barn and aimed at something else. She found interest in the donkey's braying, and Heatwave was not surprised when she mimicked them. However, the pair took on conversation, braying back and forth to each other, and Downpour was getting agitated from it. Whatever she thought the equine was saying, she didn't like it.

"Okay, that's enough." Heatwave decided, scooping his daughter back up into his arms and stroking her growling muzzle. "Obviously you two are having some disagreements."

"Sounds like you and Kade." Blades teased, and they turned as Chief and Mr. Bufkin came around to them. "Sorry about that, Mr. Bufkin."

"Nah..." Mr. Bufkin waved a hand in dismissal. "That ass has been bad-tempered from the start."

"Aaassssss..."

Heatwave stiffened, and then looked down at Downpour, his eyebrows furrowing. "Did...Did you just _talk_, Tiny?"

"Wonderful." Chief muttered with the slightest hint of a smile, "Her first word and it's _that_."

Downpour just looked up at her father with a proud expression, as if she knew _exactly_ what she just did.

Heatwave held her up to his optic level, "Look, I'm proud of you, but that's not what we say to people, 'kay? No."

He hoped she understood, but even if she didn't, he would keep trying, because that was the _last_ thing he wanted her going around yelling at random people...

* * *

"She's talking already!?"

Blurr bent down to Downpour, "But isn't she only like...Two weeks old!? Why is she talking!?"

"In comparison to what we know of animals and their similarities to the dinosaur structures, larger herbivores like cattle, deer, horses etc., develop incredibly fast so that not only can they keep up with their parents shortly after birth, but also they can more or less fend for themselves shortly after too."

Graham bent down to stroke her muzzle, "That being said, it would make sense for her mental capabilities to develop much faster than Snowy's, so she's talking before he is."

"It just means that we'll have to be careful what we say around her," Chief announced, "Nothing wrong with her learning to speak, and it may mean that she'll be assisting us on rescues one day."

"Two firebots wouldn't hurt..." Kade murmured, "Oh, by the way, I need you to drive me downtown, Heatwave."

"For what exactly?"

"I gotta go to the bakery. Haley wants me there when she's picking out a cake flavor."

"Right... Best man. Wedding."

Heatwave transformed into vehicle mode and Kade climbed into the cab. The two were off in a matter of moments, and Heatwave didn't speak the entire way there. He was busy working on something, something important. As they pulled up to the bakery, Heatwave gave a quick blow of his horn, alerting Haley to their arrival.

"I'll only be a few minutes." Kade promised, and then he hurried into the shop.

As soon as the fireman was inside and the door was closed, Heatwave's energy output lowered. His chassis relaxed on his axles, but he was not asleep, not really. After a few seconds, a human man flickered into being in the driver's seat of the cab. He lifted his head from its resting place on the window, eyes blinking a few times before brushing deep auburn hair out of his face.

"Wow... _That_ feels weird," Heatwave murmured to himself as he overlooked his new holoform body, currently dressed in a white tank top, jeans and work boots. "But it still needs some work..."

He moved his hand over to the door and opened it slowly, peeking out of his own cab before stumbling out onto the ground. Primus he felt light, it was like he was floating. He leaned against the chassis before taking a few steps. There weren't any humans in the immediate vicinity, but still he was cautious; he wasn't interested in having to explain the process of holoforms to anyone who questioned his presence there.

"Enjoying yourself, Heatwave?"

Heatwave jumped as he heard Quickshadow's voice, but saw her own holoform leaning against the lightpost. "Oh... Just testing it out. I don't want Kade to see it until I've gotten the hang of it and it's completely finished... So where are you really?"

"Still back at the Firehouse... But isn't it nice to just walk around like we would on Cybertron? No worrying about stepping on humans nearby."

Heatwave nodded in agreement. "It is... We should have done this a very long time ago."

He gasped as he heard a door open, and his holoform fizzled out of view as two children left the bakery with a box of donuts.

Quickshadow giggled as he flickered back into view. "Afraid of a few children?"

"Surprised is a better word." He grumbled, but managed a smile back at her. "...You think it works for me?"

Quickshadow walked over, tapping his nose with her finger. "Thin out your eyebrows a little bit, then we'll talk." She then fizzled away, leaving Heatwave standing alone beside his cab.


	10. 10 The Wedding

Before they knew it, the day of the wedding was upon them. The Burns household was bustling as human and bot alike prepared for the event: getting washed and polished, checking that everything was in order.

When Heatwave arrived at the venue, he parked behind, and then projected his holoform into the building. The smell of the lilacs decorating the sides of the aisle and stage wafted through the air, and he ducked behind a pillar as some people passed before tiptoeing down the hall towards the Groom's dressing room.

"C-Come in!" A frantic voice hollered from the other side of the door as he knocked.

Heatwave chuckled, and then turned the knob, "You're not thinking of backing out, are you?"

Kade whipped around at the sound of his partner's voice, his eyes falling on the red-haired holoform standing before him. "Heatwave... Wow."

Heatwave sighed, running a hand through the hair. "Yeah, I know. Total rush job."

"N-No! No, it's not that." Kade stepped up to his friend, "It looks good... You actually look like you're related to me, but not my brother, you know?"

Heatwave punched his partner's shoulder gently, "Of course, why in Cybertron would I wanna to look like you?... You good?"

Kade exhaled hard, "...Yeah. Just nervous. I'm still surprised she said 'yes.'"

"Aren't we all?" Heatwave teased, "You're going to be fine. Just pretend nobody else is there and speak from the heart, and leave any objectors to me."

"You think somebody's going to object?"

"Nah not really. Unless one of Hayley's ex-boyfriends shows up unannounced, we're good."

Kade grinned, punching the cybertronian's shoulder back, "Thanks, partner."

"Anytime, partner..."

He stepped back out of the the room and paused as he saw Professor Baranova and Frankie arguing. "Something wrong, Professor?" He inquired.

"Oh nothing, Heatwave." Professor Baranova assured, dodging Frankie's waving hand. "Frankie just won't hold still."

"My hair is_ fine_ the way it is, Anna...!" Frankie complained as her stepmom stuck another bobby pin in her hair, "So _one_ curl peeks out, so what?"

"I'm _not_ letting you be a bridesmaid in a wedding looking like an antennaed space alien... No offense, Heatwave."

"None taken."

He turned as Doc Greene arrived with CeCe holding his hand. "Hello Doc, hi CeCe. You look cute in your flower girl dress."

CeCe grinned, "Mr. Heatwave...?" She giggled, "You were out with the cars!"

"Yup, and I'm also in _here_. Isn't that _cool_?"

Doc Greene bent down to CeCe's eye level. "So you remember what to do?"

"Throw flowers and then stand next to Frankie!"

"Very good, CeCe."

Heatwave's optics scanned the foyer, "Looks like everything's going relatively smoothly... Although Hayley's mom looks like she's having a panic attack over there."

Professor Baranova finally stopped fussing over Frankie's hair, and then stepped back. "Ah... That's better."

Frankie crossed her arms, "Yeah yeah..." But a smile appeared on her lips and she gave her stepmom a hug. "Thanks... I'd better go get in position. Cody's waiting for me."

"I should get going too." Heatwave waved to the family as he followed Frankie towards where the other members of the bridal party were gathered. He saw Cody and took his place beside him for now, leaning down to the youngest Burns' ear. "You guys are next."

Cody stiffened as Heatwave stood up straight again, and then gave the firetruck a glare, but Heatwave just smiled. Sometimes it was fun to watch the little human squirm.

When the time came, Heatwave was ready. Everyone stood in line, Hayley's best friend and maid of honor, Penny, holding Heatwave's arm. Every time he'd look in her direction her face would turn red and she'd look away giggling, and after the third time he was getting concerned.

"What?" He asked, hoping his holoform wasn't glitching out and looking weird.

Penny shook her head, "I'm sorry... But this is just _weird_." She whispered, "I can't look at this damn _hot_ disguise of yours without thinking you're really a freakin' firetruck sitting in the parking lot...!"

Heatwave grinned back, "Well it's nice to know _somebody_ appreciates my appearance."

"Stop it. You and I _both_ know you're too old for me."

Their conversation ended as they started forward out of the room, and Heatwave didn't look in her direction anymore; she needed to keep her composure.

When they reached the front they went to opposite sides and he took his place beside Kade, looking at the back of the room where his teammates stood in their holoforms and both Snowblast and Downpour were present. Doc Greene had given the suggestion of shrinking them so that they'd fit in the venue better, and the Burns had agreed to it. Now Snowblast slept in Blades' arms, and Downpour sat beside Boulder, dressed up with a bright yellow box tied around her neck.

The room then became very quiet as everyone turned, and then Hayley stepped into the chapel with her father. Kade was breathless, but Heatwave placed a hand on his back for encouragement.

"She's so beautiful...!" the firefighter squeaked, fighting to keep his composure.

Hayley couldn't help but grin as she came up to the altar, giving her father a brief kiss before joining her soon-to-be spouse.

The officiant grinned, and then began. "Dearly beloved, we are gathered here today, to celebrate the union of Hayley and Kade. Many events have led up this day, and now it has finally arrived."

"_Finally_...!" Hayley whispered with a giggle as she took Kade's hands into her own, "Took you long enough, Fireman..."

"If there is anyone who does not think these two should be married, please-"

The doors were then flung open, and all attention went to the tall, muscular, dark-haired man that marched into the room. "_I_ object!"

Hayley's eyes were as wide as saucers, and from the way she reached out and grasped Kade's arm, Heatwave had a feeling that he was neither invited nor welcome. "Jett Olsen...!?" She whispered.

Kade's confused gaze then shifted to a glare as he pulled her closer to him, "Right...That creep that wouldn't leave you alone in 7th grade and then moved away the next year...!"

"I swear I was_ kidding_ when I said something about ex-boyfriends." Heatwave informed.

"His family moved to _Texas_, how did he even find _out_ about this...?"

"And _why_ do you object?" The officiant inquired.

Olsen's eyes narrowed as he pointed to Hayley, "You're not marryin' that guy because I _say_ you're not! The only person you're gettin' hitched to is _me_!"

"Well from where_ I_ stand," Kade hissed, "There are several first-responders in this room who would disagree and probably whoop your stalker ass _easily_."

Heatwave's gaze shifted to Chase, who gave a nod of understanding before stepping towards the intruder. "Sir, do you have an invitation to this event?"

"Stay outta this, man! This ain't your business!"

"You're threatening the bride of my family member, so I believe it _is_ my business. Now if you would please calm down and we can discuss this-"  
Chase dodged the fist aimed for his jaw, and in a flash of movement had the man's arms caught behind his back and cuffed with a set he'd brought along. "That's _two_ offenses already: Disturbing the peace, _and_ assault on a police officer. Let's not make any _more_."

"You let go, Punk!"

"Nope."  
Olsen struggled, but he was no match for the Cybertronian strength that Chase kept even in this form, and Chase easily pulled him out of the room. "I _told_ you the cuffs might come in handy, Sir." He informed Chief Burns, "Carry on."

Olsen's shouts of profanity faded as the doors were quickly reclosed behind them, and the chapel was quiet once again.

The officiant smiled as he gave a sigh and shook his head, "It's Griffin Rock; did we _really_ expect everything to go perfectly?"

The audience all chuckled, breaking up the tension. "Shall we continue?"

* * *

The rest of the ceremony went on as planned, and Chase returned from delivering Olsen to the jail just in time to see the pair's sealing kiss.

The reception was held out in the garden outside of the building; the trees wrapped with ribbons of blue and green, and tables scattered along the edges of the dance floor loaded with small sandwiches and lemonade.

Heatwave didn't need cue cards for his speech, it was all downloaded into his processor, but he was still a little nervous. He turned to his teammates and got thumbs up and winks from them, which made him feel a little better as he moved up to the stand to speak. All attention was on him, something he was not a fan of, but it was only for a few minutes.

"Good afternoon, everyone." He greeted, looking over the crowd. "Many of you already know who I am, but I will just state that I am Kade's partner Heatwave. I was his first truck, and he asked me to be his best man for this occasion. I wasn't certain if I wanted the responsibility of this position, but then one of my friends pointed out that Kade had given me permission to say whatever I want about him in front of a live audience... I see that confident look disappearing, Kade. You're thinking '_Oh no, I have made a terrible mistake_.'"

Kade smiled, despite his cheeks turning as red as his hair.

_"So I sat down and wrote out a speech for me to say here at the reception, only for Boulder to inform me that it was written like that of a cybertronian speech, which would mean that you all would be sitting there listening to me talk for several _hours_." _He shrugged,_ "When you're from a race of giant robots that don't need to use the restroom or sleep much, you have that kind of time... So I shortened it, cutting out tons of things that I would have _wanted _to say, but keeping the ones that seemed most important."_

_"When my team and I first arrived here on Earth many years ago, we were assigned to the Burns family as partners, in order to learn and better understand humans and their cultures.  
__My first impression of Kade Burns was that he was not the kind of person I'd thought would make a good partner: He was loud, self-centered and stubborn; two of those qualities I'm told I also possess.  
__But he was the only other firefighter on the island. The Chief said that the two of us could do the work of an entire fire department, and so far nobody's died, so that must mean we're doing_ something_ right."_

_"Another thing that I noticed about him fairly quickly was that he had a weird obsession with a girl who lived a few blocks from the Firehouse. If he wasn't talking about _himself_, then he was talking about Haley. He told me once that he'd been trying to get a date with her for years; something that I figured _should_ have told him she wasn't interested.  
__Whether she truly started to like him or just got tired of running, I'll never know; but somehow, the two started dating. I wound up as their driver most of the time, taking them all over the island, listening to them whisper things to each other that made no sense and apparently aren't _meant_ to make sense."_

_"As time went on, the dates got slightly less frequent and less of what Kade himself refers to as '_Twitterpated_.' As their frequent and usually unwilling third-wheel, or perhaps their extra _four _wheels in _my _case, I was there for it all.  
__I realized one night that there was something that Haley could give my partner that I _never_ could… She could tell him what he _wanted_ to hear, rather than always telling him what he _needed_ to hear."_

_"But our relationship has not _always_ been tense and serious. He has been there when I needed him, as hard as it is for me to say it.  
__You refused to leave me when I ran out of water against the lava incident shortly after we arrived; you stuck with me when I was still figuring out how to drive my new boat form, and when I almost went offline bringing Griffin Rock back from the Arctic, it actually sounded like you cared."_

_"I'm still learning about human culture, but as soon as I knew about this kind of ceremony and the bonding of two humans together in marriage, I had a feeling this day was coming. I had a brief moment when I read that the two humans were to become one that I was wondering how two organic forms were supposed to combine. I was _genuinely_ thinking that you'd end up with Haley's legs... _Blades_ was more concerned about that concept than_ I _was."_

He gave a look to his fellow parent, who gave him a stuck-out tongue as he rocked Snowblast in his arms.

_"When you came home with that big grin on your face, I knew the day had come. The only other thing that had made you smile that much was when we made that giant pizza and you got it all to yourself.  
__You didn't stop talking about it for hours, but you were so excited that_ I_ even got excited for you that night. You'd insisted on going to the shop for the ring by yourself, and going to her door yourself; for the first time since I'd met you, you were actually following all of the steps instead of just jumping to where it got interesting."_

_"Haley, I wish you the best of luck. You're the only person I know besides Chief Burns who could ever make Kade stop when he got going on a topic. You're kind, gentle and calm, some attributes I hope Kade will pick up from you as the years go by… just as I hope Taylor's _cooking_ skills rub off on _Dani_."_

_"To conclude, this is the beginning of a new period in the lives of everyone here. We have a new member to the Burns family, another person to bring laughter and tears into the family dinners, and perhaps one day I'll be up _with _you all night, driving a tiny Burns in the backseat because they won't sleep otherwise.  
__You two fit each other, and I hope you both the best."_

As Heatwave stepped back, everyone clapped and the firetruck gave a brief bow before hurrying back towards his teammates. "How'd I do?"

"I could have lived without the jabs at the _rest_ of us..." Blades murmured, "...But you did good."

"Thanks..." He turned to Chase, "...Sorry you had to miss some of the ceremony."

Chase nodded, "Safety of the townsfolk comes first... But I am quite pleased that Graham filmed the entire thing so I can catch up later."

"And there's no way any of us are missing Graham or Cody's weddings." Boulder informed as he handed Downpour over to her father.

"Agreed."

Heatwave held Downpour in his arms, stroking her neck and back as he watched others get up to speak and the smiles on everyone's faces.

Today was a good day, and it was only the beginning of other good days to come...


	11. 11 Impromptu Field Trip

The happy newlyweds had decided to wait until school was over in a few weeks to go on their honeymoon, and so for now, it felt just like business as usual. With his duty as best bot over, Heatwave could finally relax and focus on the important things.

"DAAAAAAAAAADEEEEEEEEE!"

Heatwave groaned, his forehead resting against the wall as Downpour screamed inside his quarters. He heard something hit the wall with a thud, and then more angry, upset screams. "Now I know why they call it '_Terrible Twos_'..." He muttered, "Except for her, it's three months."

"She'll get over it." Chief assured, "I had to do the same thing with Kade, and you're already doing better than I did those first few nights."

There was another thud, and more screaming, but Heatwave could tell her cries were weakening; she was wearing out and would go to sleep on her own soon.

Blurr meanwhile, was sitting across the room with his hands over his audio receptors. "And this is what you humans go through_ all_ the time? Why...!?"

"Have a kid someday and you'll understand," Dani replied with a smirk.

"Dani! Don't say _that_!" Heatwave scolded with a grin, "...No child deserves Blurr for a parent."

The smile that had appeared on Blurr's face faded, and he got up with a grumble. "I'm going for a drive...!"

"Aww... Be nice, Heatwave." Boulder murmured, "It's not _his_ fault he has little experience with kids."

"It _is_ his fault, because he runs away the second 'babysitting' is even mentioned." He looked around, "Speaking of experience with kids, where's Blades? I thought he'd be watching his tv by now."

"He and Chase went out on a patrol about an hour ago." Dani answered, "They should be back soon."

Heatwave raised an eyebrow with a grin, "Blades went flying without your prodding? Is he _ill_?"

**Heatwave, we need you and Boulder out here now.** Chase informed over the comms, **We have a serious mudslide situation that requires immediate attention.**

"We're on our way, Chase." Heatwave turned to the others, "Salvage, keep an eye on Downpour and Snowblast. We'll be back."

"Yes Sir!" Salvage announced with a salute, and then Heatwave and Boulder transformed, picked up their partners along with Dani and Chief, and then drove off.

No more than five minutes had passed when Quickshadow came rushing in. "Salvage, where are the Rescue Bots? We have a situation."

"Yeah, the mudslide. They're all already on-"

"No no no. The proximity sensor on Dino Island's been triggered."

Salvage stood up a little straighter, "There's intruders."

"Yes. Someone needs to go and investigate, and Sigma 17 are the only ones who have dino modes that won't set off the native population."

"Okay okay..." Salvage paced for a moment, "So we don't know how long the mudslide situation is going to be a priority, but if we wait too long then the dinosaurs might be put in danger, but those of us who are available don't have dino disguises..." He paused, "...Yet."

"What're you suggesting?"

"That we each scan a dino form and then go to Dino Island to investigate."

Quickshadow sighed, "We don't have many options...We'll need High Tide to take us, I don't know the first thing about piloting the Burnses little boat."

"And Blurr will probably be upset if he gets left out..." The recycling truck tapped his commlink. "Blurr, meet Quickshadow and I at the Natural History Museum."

**What, why?**

"Trust me, you don't wanna miss this job..."

* * *

"Keep quiet, we don't want to alert anyone else that we're here."

"I can't believe you brought the sparklings with us."

"I told Heatwave I'd watch them." Salvage defended, "Besides, they aren't hurting anything..."

In fact, Snowblast wasn't doing much of anything. He'd been doing practically nothing but sleeping for the past few weeks, something that worried Blades but Chief insisted was totally normal for a baby. Heatwave _wished_ Downpour would sleep as much as Snowblast did, she instead was channelling her inner cat and would look you directly in the optic as she knocked stuff over, all while hissing her newest word.

She was being obnoxious, and she _knew_ it.

High Tide's ship was docked in a hidden cove on the island, and from there the backup rescue personnel had carefully treked inland, keeping an optic out for any intruders or native dinosaurs. High Tide stayed behind with the sparklings and his ship, prepared to defend it if anything showed up unannounced. Quickshadow couldn't help but smirk, however, as he'd insisted on testing out his new plesiosaur form while he was at it, disappearing under the waves without a sound.

Her processor went back to earlier, when Cody had told each of them what their dinosaur forms were and what their strengths were. Hers was called a Parasaurolophus, or a hadrosaur, for short; able to walk on both two legs and on all fours, and could communicate over long distances by sending out calls through their trumpet-like crests on their heads.

Salvage's Ankylosaurus form was armored and bore a large club on its tail for knocking attackers about, and Blurr's velociraptor form was fast and agile, just like him on the race track.

Quickshadow led the team as they wandered along the shore, searching for signs of the boat the intruders would have used to reach the island.

She paused, lifting her tail to halt her companions.

"Do you see something...?" Salvage whispered, hauling himself up over the top of the ridge they were on. "Whew...Walking on all-fours is exhausting."

"Shh..." Quickshadow hissed, and then pointed to the small boat lingering just off the beach below. "...It's a fishing trawler... Looks like their engine sputtered out and they're trying to fix it."

"So they're not here to hurt the dinos. Great." Blurr muttered, "So we came all the way out here and got these new forms for _nothing_."

"No, _not_ nothing." Salvage reminded, "The humans may not be a threat to the dinos, but the dinos might still be a threat to the humans."

Quickshadow nodded in agreement. "We need to make sure the dinos don't find out that they're here. We need to find and distract them."

"Aaaaand how do we do _that_?"

"Salvage, stay here and keep an eye on the humans. Let us know when they leave and are out of the danger zone, but stay out of sight. Blurr, come with me."

Blurr groaned a little as he followed the femme further inland, but didn't openly argue. "I _still_ don't know how you plan on keeping the dinos occupied..."

"I'd think you'd know perfectly well what my plan is, Blurr... You're so _good_ at getting people to chase you, after all..."

That wasn't what Blurr had wanted to hear.

He followed Quickshadow into the trees, listening for any signs of their organic counterparts wandering above-ground. With luck, they were all still underground and would stay there until the humans had long left the island's perimeter. A sudden chirp from their comms, however, made them stop.

**Heatwave to Blurr, do you copy?**

"Scrap." Blurr muttered quietly with a grimace, and then his voice shifted to a high pitch as he responded. "Hey...!"

**Blurr, where are the sparklings? And where are _you,_ for that matter?**

**Told you we should've left a note.** Salvage informed.

"We uh... Went out for fajitas...?"

Quickshadow groaned and rolled her optics, "Oh. For the love of-"

**Fajitas... That's the _best_ you've got.**

"...Salvage did it."

**Oh sure, throw me under the bus, why don't you?**

"Throw you under...What?"

**It's an Earth expression, jeez.**

Quickshadow groaned, "The sparklings are _fine_, Heatwave. We had a mission come up and we couldn't leave them unoccupied back at the Firehouse. High Tide's watching them on the ship."

**And it is no easy task!** High Tide informed with a grunt, **the Squirt keeps trying to throw overboard whatever she can push off the deck, and I think I _broke_ the little birdie, because he's been doing nothing but stare at me for the past fifteen cycles and I don't think I'm _that_ interesting.**

"You're not," Blurr confirmed.

Heatwave gave a sigh through the comm. **How much longer do you think you'll be gone?**

"Not long. We just have to wait for the humans to vacate the beach and then we'll be in the clear."

**So before dark?**

"If not, we will inform you."

**Okay...**

"Don't worry, Heatwave. Nothing's going to happen to Downpour, she's perfectly fine."

**Right...Heatwave out.**

The comms closed off again, and Quickshadow gave a smirk. "New parent issues..."


	12. Epilogue: Life Goes On

The pair checked the clearing where the dinos typically wandered above-ground, and to Blurr's disappointment, there were several. Adults watching over their children as they tussled and chased one another through the grass.

"Too bad we left Downpour back at the ship, she's always wanting someone to wrestle with." Blurr muttered.

"I think with her being metal and them organic, she'd still be too rough for the other adults' tastes..." Quickshadow started out of the trees to where the dinos could see them. "Come on, we just need to keep them away from the shore for a little while, corralling any that stray."

Blurr groaned, and then followed her out as well. The dinos stopped in their activity to look at them, and for a moment, Blurr was concerned their appearances weren't convincing enough, but then Quickshadow sent a rumbling sound out of her crest, and they resumed their play; the bots' presence had been accepted.

"Okay, so the adults have the little ones in a circle already for the most part, we just need to keep them from leaving the clearing."

Blurr nodded, and then carefully moved through the group until he and Quickshadow were on opposite sides of it. "Okay... One, two, three, four," he counted, keeping the number of little dinos in mind; they'd be easier to lose than the full-grown T-Rex, Triceratops and Stegosauruses. "How's it going with the humans, Salvage?"

**They're still working on the engine, but it's sputtering, so we're making progress.**

"Good... Ope!"

Blurr lowered his tail to block the path of the little triceratops as it tried to chase a butterfly into the trees. "Not _that_ way, tiny."

Unfortunately, the triceratops was not pleased by this big bot making him lose track of the butterfly, and he promptly backed up and then rammed his head into Blurr's shin.

The speedy rescue bot grunted as pain shot up his leg and the metal dented inward a little, but he didn't cry out, afraid it may startle the other dinos. "Scrap scrap scrap...!" He hissed, pulling the leg up and watching the tiny, hardheaded creature stomp off to return to his mother.

"Aren't they adorable?" Quickshadow teased, nudging the little stegosaur gently with her nose.

"Oh yes... _Angels_." Blurr muttered. His optics widened as he saw the triceratops coming back at him for another blow, and he jumped back. However, now the other adolescents saw it as a game, and within seconds all of them were rushing Blurr at once. Blurr ran around the edge of the clearing, his feet digging into the dirt to keep traction as they chased with excitement.

Quickshadow smirked as she watched the spectacle, "Perhaps a bunch of little ones chasing you around isn't too bad."

"Easy for _you_ to say! _You're_ not the one being chased!"

Several minutes passed, and eventually the baby dinos all tired and slowed, returning to their parents' sides to rest.

"Thank Primus...!" Blurr murmured as he came to a stop beside Quickshadow, "I may have speed in the tank, but I don't have enough for all afternoon!"

**Well, then good news.** Salvage informed, **The humans got the engine going again. They're heading back away from the island and should be in the clear shortly.**

Quickshadow looked up at the sky, "That'll put us reaching Griffin Rock close to sunset, so we'll still be making Heatwave's deadline."

"Yeah..." Blurr winced as he lifted his leg to avoid putting weight on it. "...And I think Blades should take a look at this."

As soon as Salvage gave them the All-Clear, the two bots headed back into the trees, leaving the dinos alone once more. Once out of view, Quickshadow transformed into bot mode and assisted Blurr down the slope towards the ship, Salvage joining them shortly after.

They all looked over at the barricade of crates being used to keep Downpour stationary, her head resting on top of one wall and looking very bored. "...Wow." Blurr muttered.

"She was throwin' half the ship overboard!" High Tide defended, holding a sleeping Snowblast in one arm. "You know how the birdie was staring at me?"

"Yeah?"

"Turns out he was asleep with his optics open."

Quickshadow giggled, "Poor sparkling... Let's get home."

* * *

"Heatwave, chill. It's only been a few minutes."

"A few minutes is enough." Heatwave paused in his pacing, "The sun's almost down and they still haven't contacted us." He turned back to the others, "Aren't you worried about Snowy, Blades?"

"I am...But I trust Quickshadow...If it had just been Salvage and Blurr, then I'd be a nervous wreck."

"Hmph...I guess you're right..."

Heatwave then looked up as the garage door opened, and gave a sigh of relief as all of the absent bots entered, his daughter included. Even better, the little brachiosaur looked about ready to fall asleep on her feet.

"Perfect..." He whispered, scooping her up into his arms. "...How'd the mission go?"

"Success, minimal complications," Quickshadow informed, turning to look at Blurr as he limped across the room.

"What happened to you?" Blades asked as he examined the speedster's favored leg.

"Baby triceratops nailed me in the shin..." Blurr admitted, letting Blades lead him over to where he could sit down.

"A triceratops?" Heatwave's optics narrowed, "You didn't mention that this mission involved taking these two to Dino Island!"

"Everything worked out, right?" Quickshadow informed, "You worry too much."

"Well in Downpour's case, it's my _job_ to worry!" He then relaxed, "Just... _Warn_ me next time..."

Blades smirked, and then took Snowblast from High Tide's arms. "Hi, Snowy..."

Snowblast cooed and then yawned, snuggling deeper into his parent's arms. "Aww...All worn out from your adventures."

"He didn't even do much," High Tide admitted, "He's a much less fussy sparkling compared to _you,_ Mosquito."

"Hmph. What were you doing on the island, anyway?"

"The proximity alarm went off and so we went to check it out." Quickshadow explained, "Turns out it was just a fishing boat that was having engine trouble, so we had to keep the dinos from spotting them until they left."

"And we all got dino modes in the process." Salvage announced with a grin, "Now we're _all_ triple-changers!"

"Great..." Heatwave murmured, "...Well then, I am going to put Downpour to bed..._again_...and then finish hosing off the mud that got in my joints."

Boulder chuckled as their leader wandered off down the hall, "Poor mech...He's exhausted."

"Aren't we all?" Blurr questioned.

"Well yes, but he's got a lot of responsibilities on his plate... I vote we all try to pick up some slack until he can catch up and get back up on his stabilizers again. We can all pull more weight, right?"

The other bots all nodded in agreement. "Good... I'm going to call up Bumblebee's team, just to see how repairs are going."

The bulldozer headed for the communications center, and after pressing several buttons, the screen flickered on. A few seconds passed, but eventually Bumblebee's faceplate appeared.

**Boulder! What a surprise, usually it's Blades calling us up.**

"I know..." Boulder grinned, "...Just figured I'd check up on the situation there."

**Whew...Well, it's been better, but it can certainly be worse. Most of the damage from the Decepticon Attack has been cleared out and repairs are being done on the buildings. The civilians are still kinda shaken up, but they haven't come at us with pitchforks yet, so...**

"It's not your fault, though."

**Isn't it though? Shockwave never would have attacked Crown City if it weren't to lure us out.**

"Shockwave...Wow. Nobody ever told us who exactly ordered that attack."

**Yeah...But he's been dealt with.** Bumblebee's face fell a little,** ...Flash hasn't really been the same since that.**

"What do you mean? Was she hurt?"

**Oh no, she was actually the one to take him down! It's just... Ever since she did so, she's been quieter... And asking questions I don't know how to answer, like if ****_all_**** Decepticons are bad bots.**

"She's reached the point of working out which side she's on."

**I guess so... I just hope she makes the right choice. I can feel the struggle in her spark like she's not sure who she believes.**

"She'll make the right choice in the end, Bee. She's your daughter, after all, and you raised her right."

**I guess you're right...Still, it's one of the things that keeps me up at night, wondering what all she's taking into account in order to make her decision... What about you guys?**

"Well, Blurr, Salvage, Quickshadow and High Tide all have dino modes now, apparently. They went on a mission and just got back... Heatwave's tired out of his processor trying to run the team and keep Downpour in line, Blades and Chase are well...Blades and Chase."

**How's Chase doing, by the way? The last time I saw him, he looked kinda... ****_Dazed_****.**

"Better... He's working through some things also."

Bumblebee nodded, **More and more these days, our time is being taken up by not only work but relationships and family conflict... The everlasting struggle all sentient beings face.**

"And yet, life goes on..."

**Yes... Life goes on. Give the Burnses and the rest of the team my regards, but I should get back to work.**

"Same here. Good to talk to you, Bee."

The Lieutenant's faceplate then disappeared again, and Boulder gave a hard exhale as a smile appeared. "'Til all are one..."


End file.
